White Scarf
by WintersOrchid
Summary: How Russia got his scarf.
1. Chapter 1

Kievan Rus finished tying the strings and sat back on her heels. "Turn around and let me see."

Yekaterina twirled in a circle for her mother, feeling the new skirt and apron twist around her legs.

She smiled brightly and did it again, just to feel the cloth move around her.

"It fits wonderfully," praised Rus, folding the old shirt and storing it in the clothes chest.

"Now that you're older, you have to help me with your brother and sister, you know."

"I know, Mama," Yekaterina replied, exasperated with the constant reminder. She scuffed her bare feet against the floor pensively.

"Mama, my old boots are too small this year…."

"No they aren't. You just want new ones. You'll get new ones next winter. However, you do need a new scarf since Ivan will be getting yours. I wish he could keep track of his scarves and mittens."

Rus gestured for Yekaterina to sit next to her at the loom.

"What color scarf do you want?"

Yekaterina pursed her lips, trying to think of what she wanted. Mama had a lot of colors because she made all of their clothes with thread she traded for at the village. Trailing her fingers over the red and light blue, she paused on the white, imagining how pretty a white scarf would be.

"White," she decided. Rus frowned slightly.

"I guess you're old enough to keep track of it. I don't want you losing it in the snow and complaining to me about it."

Yekaterina shook her head vigorously. "I won't, Mama, I promise."

Rus smiled and picked up the bobbin of white string. "All right, I'll make it for you."

She set up her loom and started weaving the threads together. Yekaterina watched her for a little bit longer before darting outside to play with her siblings. Ivan was digging in the dirt with a stick while Natalia watched, holding her hand-me-down rag doll by its arm. Yekaterina came up behind them and poked Ivan in the back of the head.

"Hey!" He swatted at her legs with the stick, but it hit her skirt instead.

"Mama's making me a scarf for the winter cause someone lost theirs and Natalia's," she taunted.

He glared at her. "It wasn't my fault. Nat lost hers and I gave her mine. I didn't lose them."

"Well, someone lost them and it wasn't me."

Ivan turned back to his hole. "Go away."

"What're you doing?" She sidestepped closer to him, peering over his shoulder. Natalia took her hand out of her mouth and tried to grab Yekaterina's skirt. Yekaterina grabbed her sister's wrist and pushed it away, not wanting drool on her new apron.

"I'm digging a hole."

"Why?"

"Because you won't play with me, and because you make me play dolls with you when you do."

"Come on, Vanya." She pulled on the back of his shirt. "Let's play. I promise I won't make you play dolls. Let's race to that tree and see who can climb it the fastest."

He didn't reply and she could see the desire to beat her in a race warring with the want to keep digging.

"Fine." He stood up and brushed his bangs out of his eyes, smearing dirt on his forehead.

"Ready? Go!" They took off running, leaving Natalia behind to stumble after them, crying for them to wait for her.

Ivan reached the tree first, but was a slower climber and Yekaterina easily overtook him, sitting on a limb and throwing twigs and leaves at him. Natalia finally reached the tree and tried to grab a branch, hopping up and down with her hands stretched as far above her head as she could reach.

Yekaterina and Ivan ignored her for a while, content to sit in the tree and swing their legs. Eventually, Natalia sat down and started crying. Ivan half-fell out of the tree to get to her and she held her arms up to him so he would cuddle her. He sat down on the ground and pulled her into his lap as if she were an oversized doll, making shushing noises and kissing her cheek.

Yekaterina gazed out at the landscape around them, wondering how a piece of land could also be her mother. Rus had tried to explain to Yekaterina about being a representation of people and land, but had really only managed to explain why Ivan and Natalia spoke differently from Yekaterina. As far as Yekaterina understood, Ivan wasn't speaking a butchered form of what she spoke, but a completely different language.

They all understood each other for the most part, but different words and phrasing sometimes lead to confusion. Yekaterina privately thought her younger siblings should speak her language since she was the oldest, but her attempts to make Ivan speak didn't go well. He had told her that her language was stupid, and for weeks afterwards, he corrected her constantly to suit the way he talked.

Mama had put an end to it quickly and forbade them to annoy each other about the differences.

Natalia calmed down in time for dinner so the three of them walked slowly back home together. Mama had cleaned the house and even started on Yekaterina's new scarf. She admired it on the loom as she set the table, imagining how jealous Ivan would be.

They knelt in front of the small shrine and held hands while Rus prayed to Jarilo for a successful harvest and for victory against her enemies. She struck two pieces of flint together to create sparks as she chanted. A handful of dried wheat stalks was lit on fire and allowed to burn out in the carved stone bowl on the shrine, a token of what would be offered back to Jarilo if he gave his body up for a good harvest.

They ate in silence, and were sent to bed after helping Rus with the dishes. Natalia curled up between Ivan and Yekaterina, one hand gripping each of their shirts so they could not leave the bed without her knowing.


	2. Chapter 2

"Go outside and play; General Winter will be here soon and I don't want you outside while he's here."

Yekaterina and Ivan were kicked out of the house without much ceremony. He wandered over to the woodpile to try and find lizards or worms, while she pulled her doll out of her apron pocket. Sitting down, she drew the outline of a house in the dirt and walked her doll up the pathway, trying to think of how to include Ivan so she wasn't playing alone. He solved her problems by stepping on her drawing.

"Hey!" She pushed his bare foot off and redrew the house.

"Kasha, come play with me," he whined.

"I'm playing right now. Go run down to the tree and back and I'll tell you how long you took."

"Nooooo." He sat next to her. "Fine, I'll play with your stupid doll."

He picked up her doll and twisted the arm between his fingers, trying to think of something they both could do. Yekaterina laid out wood chips and stalks of grass to indicate a forest and a field.

"Look, Ivan. We could play 'The Firebird'."

He looked at her doll in its dress. "But we don't have a boy doll."

"We can pretend it's a boy. And this piece of wood is the wolf."

"But your doll is a girl! Prince Ivan is not a girl!"

She smacked the doll out of his hands.

"Don't be stupid," she told him.

She would have elaborated for the sake of his less-than-Yekaterina intelligence, but the neighing of a horse caught her attention. A lone horseman was riding up the path to their house. He wore heavy armor and carried a long spear with a shield hanging from the saddle, covering his left leg. Mama came out of the house, balancing Natalia on her hip. The little girl blinked sleepily in the light and turned her head into her mother's neck.

Ivan rushed over to Mama and clutched at her skirt. Afraid he would get her in trouble, Yekaterina followed him. Mama frowned at the rider and handed Natalia to Yekaterina, running her hand over Ivan's hair as she stepped forward.

Natalia pulled painfully on Yekaterina's hair and she looked away from Mama to untangle Natalia's pudgy fingers from the pale strands.

Beside her, Ivan screamed and Yekaterina jerked her head up just in time to be blindsided by a jolt of horror and shock as she saw the rider swing the butt of his spear towards her face.

She woke up in a haze, hearing Natalia hiccupping. The side of her head hurt and felt stiff. Sitting up, she found Natalia had fallen asleep with her head resting on Yekaterina's stomach. Natalia rolled off and onto Yekaterina's thigh when the older girl sat all the way up. Yekaterina held her breath and gently stroked her sister's hair as the little girl scrunched up her face, curled her hands into fists a few times, then relaxed back into sleep.

Ivan was missing and the sun was gone.

Had Mama left the two of them outside? Yekaterina carefully pushed Natalia off her leg and stood up shakily. Her head throbbed painfully and made her dizzy. She stood still until the dizziness passed before walking over to the rain bucket. Picking a small leaf out of the ladle, she drank deeply, feeling the stiffness on her face again as her cheeks filled with water. She touched it gently. Whatever it was, it was cool and smooth, with rough patches. Some water from her fingers soaked into the mess and it turned sticky the more she felt it. She pulled her fingers away and looked at them. In the waning moonlight, her fingers seemed black. Yekaterina poured another dipper of water on her face, leaning awkwardly to the side so her clothes would not get wet.

Natalia started crying.

Where was Mama? She wouldn't have let Yekaterina out of the house with a dirty face and she certainly would not have left her daughters to sleep outside in the dirt. What were they doing outside, anyway? Yekaterina touched the side of her head where it hurt. She remembered playing dolls with Ivan, arguing with him, then the horseman. He was gone too.

Yekaterina picked up Natalia and tried to hold her on her small hip, like Mama did. Rocking back and forth, she sang softly to calm the toddler as they entered the house. Mama's cloth basket was knocked over and the chest where they kept their spare clothes was opened and rifled through. Yekaterina looked inside, but only Ivan's clothes were missing. Did Mama take Ivan with her? Did she leave with the horseman?

"Mama?" Yekaterina could hardly hear herself.

"Mama!" She overcompensated for her earlier call and screamed, startling Natalia.

"Mama! Mama!" She could not stop calling for her mother and tears started rolling down her cheeks while sobs choked her throat and cracked her words oddly. Natalia started crying for Mama too.

Yekaterina sat down on the floor and clutched her sister to her chest, crying so hard she could not call out anymore.

Something welled up inside her chest, right under her heart and swelled to fill her body.

Mama was gone. Ivan was gone. Natalia was small and Yekaterina could not wield Mama's long sword. How were they to protect themselves from Rome and other greedy people?

Natalia eventually cried herself to sleep, so Yekaterina put her in Mama's bed and built up the fire. The house felt enormous to her, intimidating. She hurriedly threw more wood in the grate then sprinted to the bed where Natalia was.

Curling herself around her sister, Yekaterina tried to make herself get up and go outside to look for Ivan. What if he was still out there? She was responsible for both her siblings if Mama wasn't home. But if he was with Mama, then he was safe, she argued with herself. The wind rattled down the chimney and at the door, as if someone was trying to get in. Yekaterina knew Mama locked the door, especially in winter, to keep people like Rome and General Winter outside. Yekaterina couldn't reach the bolt though and she couldn't drag anything across the floor to stand on so she could reach it.

She didn't sleep that night, and when the first light of dawn poured into the small house, Yekaterina slowly opened the door, half-expecting to see Roman legions, General Winter and scores of wolves right outside. There was nothing but a thin layer of frost on the ground, not even enough to freeze the water bucket she had drunk from the night before. In the dawn light, Yekaterina's breath spiraled away from her and she breathed out to make more clouds come from her mouth.

"Mama? Ivan?" The words spun away in the still early winter air as puffs of white clouds.

No one answered.

She gently closed the door behind her and looked around for Ivan. He wasn't hiding in the tree, behind the woodpile or anywhere else he normally hid.

Giving up on him for the minute, Yekaterina made her way over to the fence where she last saw Mama. A pile of cloth lay in a crumpled heap near a knocked-down post.

She picked up the cloth, holding it up above her head. It was a kosovorotka with stripes running around the wrists and a brown stain trailing down the front from the neck to the waist. As she analyzed it, she suddenly remembered why it seemed so familiar. It was her mother's, her apron and skirt lying close by with the boots peeking out from the horizontally striped skirt. Yekaterina couldn't understand why Mama would have left her clothes behind while she wandered around outside in the cold.

Ivan was still missing too. Yekaterina bent over to pick up her mother's clothes and go back inside. The brown stain streaked down the front of the skirt too, smelling of Mama's sword and the time Yekaterina had sliced her hand open on a sickle blade.

She dropped the clothes and backed away, everything suddenly making horrible sense. Mama had not explained everything to her, but she had explained what had happened when a country died. Their bodies dissolved back into the ground they had come from, as if they had never existed. Mama had killed a few countries and seen other countries like China and Scandia and Rome kill other nations.

Mama was dead. Ivan was probably dead too. She and Natalia were the only ones left.

Yekaterina tried to control her breathing, but she could feel herself starting to panic.

She left the clothes lying in the dirt and ran back to the house, slamming the door shut behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

Weeks passed.

Yekaterina learned how to pick up the work Mama and Ivan had left for her to do and fended off Natalia's questions. The little girl seemed to forget about her mother eventually and seemed content in her innocence.

Winter came in a haze of fog and freezing rain, snow and ice piling up around their house until Yekaterina had to climb over a huge mound to get out of the house.

She was gathering wood for the fire one day when she felt a pressure on her mind, like someone was resting their hand on the back of her head. She looked around, but couldn't see anything. Trying to shake the feeling, she turned to go back inside when she saw a dense fog creeping around the trees. It didn't move with the wind and seemed to be coming closer to her.

Clutching the wood tightly, Yekaterina started walking back to the house, determined not to let the fog-presence see her fear. Natalia was still inside, and they had bartered with a man from the village to make a bolt she could reach for the door.

The fog followed her, hovering over her footprints. The rushing noise it made seemed to grow louder and louder in her ears, but every time she looked back, it was still the same distance behind her as it had been.

Finally, she had reached the fence that marked her mother's property and she turned around to face the fog.

A cold wind picked up and rushed towards her, sending eddies of snowflakes and ice crystals swirling around her body.

The figure of a man appeared before her. "Who might you be, Little One?"

Her breath froze in her mouth and it hurt to breathe. "I'm Yekaterina."

"Oh? My, how you've grown. Where is your mother?"

"She…" the words caught in her throat. "She's dead. A man killed her."

"Oh dear. Poor Žarya. I told her she should have made alliances or armies or something to keep others away from her, especially with her children at such a young age."

Yekaterina's eyes widened. "You knew my mother? Who are you?"

"I am General Winter, Little Yekaterina. Surely your mother told you about me."

"She did. I'm not supposed to talk to you."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. She never told me."

"Then how do you know I'm a bad person?" He smiled at her, making her feel as if a chunk of ice had slid down the back of her shirt. She took a step back.

"I don't know, but I still don't want to talk to you."

He floated further off the ground, still slowly coming closer. She kept walking back until she felt the door behind her, then slid inside without taking her eyes off General Winter and bolted the door.

Natalia tried to clamber into her arms, but Yekaterina pushed her off and started shoving the chest in front of the door.

Once it was in place, she went around the house to make sure the shutters were in place and firmly shut. Natalia kept clinging to the back of Yekaterina's skirt, whining for attention.

There was no way for General Winter to get in and they could last him out in the house. Spring would come and force him back to wherever he lurked until he was needed again.

They just had to out-last him.

/

General Winter did not bother them for the next couple of years, although Yekaterina did occasionally see him in the storms he brought with him. She and Natalia grew up slowly, much to the concern of the neighboring villagers who had taken the two girls under their wings. The babushkas clucked and fussed over them when they went into town, pulling at their clothes and feeling their bones, forcing them to take food back so they would "grow up strong with broad bones."

Yekaterina always thanked them profusely and tolerated their chatter while Natalia hid behind her sister's skirts and glowered at anyone who came too close. This seemed to be an endless source of delight for the grandmothers who would fuss over Natalia the more she glared at them, much to her consternation.

The men of the town taught them how to plant and harvest, and promised to help them with anything they needed. Yekaterina had caught the eyes of the boys when they were all the same age, but as they grew up and she remained the same, they treated her as they treated their younger siblings. She preferred to be around the older men and women, for they remembered her mother and what she was.

They thought she had been an earth spirit of some sort, a boon to be prayed to and somewhat worshiped – a form of a Dola. Her children, naturally, were treated with the same respect.

At first, they had been confused when Yekaterina had showed up in town after the winter thaw. Rus had told them about her children, but the villagers had never seen her pride and joy for themselves. When Yekaterina had told them about her mother's death, they paid homage to her in a ritual and set Yekaterina up as her replacement, promising her food, clothes, services and anything else she wanted as long as she continued to intercede to the gods on their behalf.

Yekaterina had been so overwhelmed that she agreed before she had even fully understood.

The villagers had loaded a horse with food for her and sent her back with songs of praise.

By the time she had reached her house, she had figured out what they wanted and decided to just keep doing what her mother had done in the hopes that it would work for her.

So far it had.

However, odd things had been happening since Mama had died.

Natalia once got lost in a cornfield while Yekaterina worked with the villagers. The children had been running in and out of the wheat stalks that were being harvested, playing a game and generally getting underfoot. When the adults had taken a lunch break, they called and all the children save Natalia came to eat.

Yekaterina waited with her sister's lunch until it was time to work again, and then ate her food quickly so she could pick up her basket.

Natalia showed up hours later, hungry, thirsty and tired. She had to be carried home, crying the whole way about a woman in white who had pulled her hair and led her into the neighboring cornfield. Natalia had wandered around for hours calling for Yekaterina to come find her and had managed to get out by finding the pathway that ran through the center and following it to the main road.

Another time, Yekaterina had found a new bowl in pieces one morning. The next day a bowl of milk met the same fate. When she knelt down to the retrieve it a large, furry creature ran towards her. She shrieked and leapt onto a nearby chair as it scurried from under the stove and under the bed.

Dirt was tracked into the house a few days later in clear, little footprints. The day after, a plate was jerked off the table in front of her eyes and smashed onto the floor by an invisible presence.

Desperate for help appeasing the domovoi, she went into town under the pretense of needing help with a spindle bobbin. An old woman offered to help her, and while she taught Yekaterina what she already knew, Yekaterina asked her question. The old woman put down the thread and looked hard at her. Eventually, she sighed and shook her head.

"You've upset the domovoi in your house when you yourself are akin to them? How did you manage to do that?"

"How can I upset the domovoi when I've done everything my mother did?"

"Tell me, little dola, did your mother ever talk of you having a father?"

Yekaterina thought about it. "No, she never mentioned anything about my father. And there were never any men around the house. With Ivan and Natalia, she just got all big – " She gestured with her hands " – then she had them."

The old woman shook her head again.

"You need to offer it salted bread on white cloth. You need to announce to the house that you are the master now, and then it will accept you. Leave it food like your mother did and keep it happy. I leave mine a bowl of milk every other night and I have yet to see any of its mischief."

She handed the spindle back to Yekaterina.

"You know what you have to do, little dola. You just have to be brave and follow your mother's footsteps."

Yekaterina followed the old woman's advice and left the bundle on the table, and the domovoi settled down. Occasionally, she'd wake up to find a spindle of thread or something else it had done to ease her chores.

Natalia wasn't much use since she was so young, so the domovoi's help was very welcome.

She plowed the field behind their house every year and harvested the crop herself. Natalia helped by doing little things, like bringing water and chasing crows away.

/

They lived quietly, ignoring the aches in their bodies that meant their lands were going through changes. Yekaterina didn't care. She just wanted to live with her sister and forget the immortality that she was given.

This fall, the wheat had ripened early and Yekaterina sharpened her scythe, starting the harvest one day before the sun had risen.

She moved steadily through the small wheat field; her sickle needed sharpening, but she didn't want to stop until noon. Natalia came running up behind her, hair askew and apron streaked with dirt. She trampled the sheaves of wheat Yekaterina had just cut.

"Sister!" She sidestepped Yekaterina's arm and stepped on more of the sheaves. "There's a strange boy at the house, and he says he knows you."

Yekaterina picked up Natalia to prevent her from messing up the grain and carried her on her back towards the house. As they neared the small house, Yekaterina could see a bundle of cloth near the door, supposedly the boy. A horse grazed on what little grass was left near the fence. The boy stood up, and Yekaterina could see his hair was dirty and messed up. He seemed familiar, but Yekaterina could not place from where. The village boys avoided her and Natalia and there were not any other villages close by. He stood still, looking down as she approached.

"Hello," she called out hesitantly. "Can I help you?"

He took a step towards her, hesitating until she was close enough to touch.

Yekaterina pulled her handkerchief off her head and tucked it into her apron pocket. "Hello? Is there something you need?"

"Don't you recognize me? It's me, Ivan."

Her little brother who had disappeared years ago.

Yekaterina dropped her sickle and ran to embrace him. Through his clothes, he felt thin, sharp and angular from his prominent bones.

"Where have you been? We thought you were dead."

"No, just taken." He looked haggard and worn down.

"I'm sorry, Sister, but do you have any food? I haven't eaten in weeks."

She pulled him inside and sat him down at the table with a hunk of bread while she made an early dinner.

Ivan mainly slept for a few days after he showed up. The few times he did wake up, he moved lethargically, helping her by cleaning the house or making food while Yekaterina and Natalia were in the fields. Slowly but steadily, he recovered from whatever had ailed him in the decade since Yekaterina had last seen him and helped in the fields.

Harvest time came and went, and Yekatrina sacrificed to Jarilo like the villagers had taught her to. Ivan however, did not, and sat away from his sisters with a look on his face. Yekaterina could not place it then, but years later when she looked back on that time, she would always remember him as being angry and resentful.

/

Winter came, and Yekaterina locked him out of the house whenever both her siblings were inside with her. Ivan often wandered alone in the snow, saying he was tired of being trapped inside during the winter. She didn't press him for answers or reasons, still shocked at his outburst when she asked about the scars on his neck and back.

Ivan opened the door, the cold wind blowing around his body and chilling the house.

"Shut the door! You'll let General Winter in!" Yekatrina growled at him from where she was stoking the fire.

Natalia shivered and clung to Yekatrina.

Ivan ignored her demand.

"Come on, let's go outside."

Yekatrina glared at him. "It's cold and General Winter might be around. I don't want to be anywhere near him."  
>"He won't be, I promise."<br>Yekatrina jerked her head up to ask him how he could be so sure, but he coldly stared at her, so she lowered her eyes back to the fire.

"Alright, let's go outside."

She helped Natalia get bundled up for the cold and looped the white scarf her mother had made her years ago around her own neck. They trekked out into the snow, Natalia holding tightly to Ivan's hand.

They walked together, snow crumbling away under their shoes. Ivan seemed to delight in the cold, swinging his arms and kicking piles away gleefully. Natalia clung to Ivan's arm as much as she could, weighing him down. He eventually calmed down and stopped, breathing in and out as he tilted his head up to look at the trees.

Yekaterina caught up to them and stood watching the surrounding forest while Natalia dug a stick out of the snow and tried to look at the trees like Ivan did.

He broke the silence first.

"I love the snow, but sometimes there's too much of it. My fingers and face get cold, and Yao says I have to come in before my fingers fall off."  
>"Who's Yao?"<p>

"My older brother. Golden Horde has him too."

Yekaterina didn't say anything.

He tilted his head back and caught the snowflakes on his face. The vivid red scars on his neck stood out in sharp contrast to his pale skin and clothes.

She stepped forward and wrapped her scarf around his neck.

"Here, so you stay warm."

Ivan looked shocked. "Your scarf from Mama…"

"You need it more than I do." She couldn't look him in the eyes, afraid he might realize she had really wanted to cover up the marks.

She stepped back and smiled at him. "You can thank me by giving me the inheritance rights to Kievan Rus!"

"You're such a schemer, Sister!" He cried.

She laughed and pulled Natalia's hand away from the scarf.

"Come on, let's go home."


	4. Chapter 4

The spring melted the snow and chased General Winter away. The siblings farmed the land, holding high hopes for the future. Ivan seemed much, much better, no longer suffering from frequent night terrors or panic attacks. He sang and whistled as he scattered the grain into the furrows, making Natalia laugh as she followed behind him, covering the seeds.

The young girl had become inseparable from her brother, constantly clinging to him and talking with him, even going so far as to tell him that she was going to marry him one day. The older two had laughed it off, telling her that she could not marry her brother.

Yekaterina stood up straight, popping her back and stretching her arms above her head.

"Let's take a break," she called out to her siblings. "I'm hungry."

They moved towards her, Ivan taking a long draught from the bucket of water and Natalia copying him.

Yekaterina scanned the horizon lazily as she leaned against the fence, enjoying the way the wind blew across her hot skin.

A horse came galloping up the road towards the house and she sat up away from the post.

Maybe one of the villagers need help? She was often called into town for a birth or a serious injury because the humans thought she provided good luck and healing.

Ivan followed her gaze. He froze stiff.

"Sister? We need to get inside."

"Why? It's just a villager. I might not be back until later tonight." She stood and brushed off her skirt.

"No, it's not. We need to get inside now."

He grabbed Natalia and her hands, pulling them towards the house.

The horseman bore down on them and Yekaterina realized with a horrible jolt that she recognized the man who had killed her mother.

She ran towards the house, hoping to get inside and lock the man outside.

He steered his horse between them and the house, swinging off the saddle and landing on his feet, reaching for Ivan. He screamed and swerved away, dropping his sisters' hands and running around the horse.

It kicked at him, but missed and Yekaterina scooped up Natalia, running for the door.

They reached the house at the same time and burst through the door, turning to latch it closed. Ivan started hyperventilating. "We're going to die, I don't want to die again."

"He's not going to get in. Calm down and help me block the door."

Yekaterina hid Natalia under the bed, warning the girl not to come out.

She fished Rus' sword out of the chest as the man started banging on the door.

"Who is that?"

"Golden Horde. Don't fight him – you can't win. He beats Yao all the time in fights."

Yekaterina ignored him and faced the door, hoping she didn't look as scared as she felt.

The door burst open, ripped off its hinges and falling sideways to the floor.

Ivan backed up against the wall, looking terrified.

"No! I left you! I'm not going back! You can't make me!"

"Oh yes I can." Golden Horde kicked the heavy table out of the way, cleaving it in two when it didn't move far enough. He grabbed Ivan's upper arm and jerked him to his feet.

Ivan started crying hard. "No, no, no," he hiccupped, trying to pry the man's hand off.

Yekaterina gripped Mama's sword and held it up like she had seen the older woman do once.

"You cannot have him!"

The man hardly looked at her, swinging his sword down through the old steel and into Yekaterina's shoulder, throwing her to the ground. He towered over her as she cried out in pain, dragging Ivan to stand over her.

"Do you see what you've made me do now? Your sister is hurt and it's all your fault." He lifted the sword over his head.

"No! Please leave her alone! I promise I won't run away again."

The man lowered his arm and studied Ivan's face.

"Fine." He turned on his heel and jerked Ivan behind him.

Yekaterina pinched her shoulder together and stumbled to the door just in time to see the man tie Ivan's horse to his saddle. Ivan's hands were tied to the saddle he sat on and he watched her lean against the doorframe.

Golden Horde kicked his horse in the ribs and it leapt forward, pulling Ivan's horse behind itself.

Her eyesight started to turn white at the edges, but she gripped her shoulder and the frame tighter, determined not to faint and miss her brother like last time. They disappeared quickly, and she finally sunk to her knees, hearing Natalia screaming for her, then the ground came rushing up to her face.

/

Yekaterina woke in her bed a day later, shoulder wrapped neatly by one of the villagers. Ivan was gone again, but Natalia was still with her, sitting next to the bed, clinging to her hand.

Everything ached, especially her arm where it was healing. She sat up, startling the woman and Natalia and unwound the bandages.

"Wait! You need those on!" The woman smacked her hand away and tied them up as tightly as they had been.

Yekaterina growled under her breath and let her hand fall. She'd take out the stitches after the woman left. Natalia clambered onto the bed and awkwardly hugged her, trying and failing to avoid jostling her shoulder. Yekaterina suppressed a groan and hugged her younger sister back.

"Your sword was broken. You need to take care of your weapons."

The woman held out the two halves on a cloth for her inspection. Her heart sank – there was no way to fix it.

Mama's sword hadn't been used since the older country had died, and she had paid for neglecting the weapon.

She fell back against the propped up pillows, feeling hopeless. She couldn't even protect her little brother. What kind of sister was she?

Yekaterina sat up suddenly and snapped at the woman to leave. Her aura pulsed and the frightened woman fled, leaving the door open behind her.

Natalia flinched away, then leaned back over the older girl.

"Sister? Are you in pain?"  
>"My heart hurts, Natalia. Come here." She patted the bed next to her. "I want to hold you."<p>

The younger girl curled up under her arm and rested her head on Yekaterina's chest.

"Is brother ever coming back?"  
>"No. It's like he's dead to us." She coughed to hide a sob.<p>

Natalia started crying, demanding her brother back.

"You let him be taken! I hate you!"

Yekaterina could only pet her head and hold her close, promising to protect her.

Natalia cried herself to sleep eventually; Yekaterina stared up at the ceiling, wondering what to do until she too fell into sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Centuries passed and Yekaterina stepped up into her role as Ukraine, only to be crushed under the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth and forced to be a servant in their house. Natalia had to follow her when the two men took over her house too.

Eventually, Yekaterina decided she had received enough groping and remarks about her new-grown curves. She left the castle in a fit of rage with Natalia and moved back to their old home. There, they re-established themselves with the villagers as nature spirits of sorts and stayed to themselves.

The years passed in a blur again, and Yekaterina watched Natalia grow up, mending her sister's clothes to fit as needed.

Ivan would be growing too, she sadly thought. Was he still alive? He had come back from the dead once, maybe he would again.

A foreign presence drew her to the town one day. Natalia came with her as she walked down the road to the village had swelled since the last time she had visited, expanding outwards along the river and towards her forest.

A group of people had gathered around a black horse when she walked into town; she could see its head and shoulders above their heads, along with the top of a very tall man's head. As she drew closer, she heard a man shouting.

"If you don't know who she is, then leave me be! I have other business to attend to, and I will not waste my time on your sorry mortal lives."

A man, apparently the one who had yelled, swung up onto the black horse the crowd had encircled.

The crowd parted for him, urged on by the threat of being trampled.

He rode towards her, looking angry, steering the horse to the side so he would avoid them. As he passed, he pulled the reigns back, hesitating for a second, leaning down so he could look at her eyes. Whatever he was looking for, he must not have seen it for he moved on. He moved towards the he had come with, his long scarf fluttering in the wind. Yekaterina lunged towards him suddenly, leaving Natalia behind. She grabbed his sleeve and pulled. He turned towards her, frowning and pulling his arm away from her grasp.

"Ivan?" His face closed off to her, shifting into a darker expression.

"Yes?" he drew out the word.

"Ivan Braginski?"

"I am he."

She covered her mouth with her hands, too emotional to say anything. Realization lit up his eyes and he leaned towards her.

"Sister? Katsha?" He dismounted and swept Yekaterina into his arms, spinning her around. Setting her down, he kissed her cheeks.

"Natalia!" He picked the younger woman by the waist. "How you've grown!" he exclaimed, hugging her close.

Yekaterina stood apart from her younger siblings, shocked at how much Ivan himself had grown.

He set Natalia down and held Yekaterina's hands in his.

"Come live with me." His purple eyes were lit up, delighted to have found her.

"Well, what about our house?"

"It'll still be here for you. Please, Katsha. Come live with me. I'll take care of you and provide you with everything you need."

She couldn't tell him no, even if she wanted to.

"Of course."

He hugged her again and helped her onto his horse, seating Natalia behind her, then took the reins and led the horse down the road back to their old house.

While they packed their clothes, he made a make-shift sled to harness to the horse. Ivan carried their trunk outside for them and lashed it to the sled. After settling Natalia on the horse again, he pulled its reigns and walked hand-in-hand with Yekaterina.

"I think you'll like my new house. My boss is helping to expand my lands. Someday, I'll be the biggest country in the world and you will never have to worry about war again because I'll protect you."

They made good time, camping at night until they reached Ivan's home. It was set next to the tsar's castle, but rarely lived in since Ivan spent most of his time with his leader.

Yekaterina and Natalia moved in easily, their lands falling under Russian rule after several long wars with Poland and Lithuania.

They were together again, and Ivan had promised them that they would never have to leave each other again.


	6. Chapter 6

1990

Russia had been in a bad mood since he had lost the eastern half of Germany. Hungary, Czech and Slovakia had been restless too, constantly leaving the Soviet-controlled territory to visit other countries.

Things came to a head one night when only the Baltics, Ukraine and Belarus were left in the house.

Russia came home and started drinking, claiming it was the only way to drown out the pain and voices. He threw the bottle at Poland, and told Ukraine to mind her own business when she objected to the mess.

"You care now, after I've made myself strong, but you never cared when I was young. You abandoned me."

Ukraine turned sharply back to face him, letting the glass shards she had collected fall. "I never left you on your own!"

"Yes you did! After the Golden Horde took me, you never bothered to come after me! You were so concerned about Belarus that you gave me up and didn't care about me!"

Russia's eyes were tearing up and he swayed, trying to keep his balance as he stood pointed his finger in her face.

"Admit it. You never came after me because you didn't give a damn about what happened to me."

She opened her mouth, but when she thought about his words and how to counter them, she found herself silent.

There was no way she could have fought the Golden Horde and won. But she didn't even try to get Russia back. Each time he was taken away, she hardly raised her hand to stop it. He took her silence as an agreement.

"See! Even you know it!" He sat back on the couch, resting his head on the back. His ever-present scarf was loose, and she could see the multitude of scars that covered the skin in thick welts.

She left the room.

Walking upstairs to her room, she packed some clothes quickly. Going next door to Belarus' room, she wiped her eyes before opening the door. The younger woman looked up from her book as her sister entered.

Ukraine pulled a suitcase from the closet and started packing.

"What are you doing?"

"We are leaving."

"What do you mean?"

Belarus watched her older sister over continue to fold her clothes. Ukraine wiped tears out of her eyes with her back to Belarus, then turned around and smiled.

"We're just leaving for awhile. We'll come back and visit him when he's not so sick."

"Brother's sick?"  
>"Yes. We'll be back when he feels better. Come." She held out her hand and Belarus sat up and swung her legs over the edge of her bed, toeing on her shoes. She hopped off the mattress and took Yekaterina's hand. Together, they made their way quietly downstairs.<p>

Yekaterina told Natalia to put on her coat and winter gear, and she peeked into the living room.

Ivan was asleep, head still lolling against the back of the couch.

She tucked a blanket around him and kissed his forehead.

"I love you," she whispered.

She left the room and went back to Natalia. Shrugging on her coat, she picked up her suitcase and opened the door.

"Come on. We'll be back soon."

The door shut behind them, leaving another piece of their brother behind them.


End file.
